The Ondo State governorship election was keenly contested amidst intra party mudslinging in the All Progressives Congress (APC), but the party eventually emerged victorious. In this interview, Alhaji Mai MalaBuni, who is the party’s national secretary, said the outcome of the election is a resounding endorsement of confidence by the people on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

Just like the PDP, the APC had problems over who should be its candidate in the Ondo election that threatened to tear the party. What was exactly the game changer that gave the party victory?

Like I have always said, there’s no election whether at party primary level or the major election that does not come with complaints. However, such complaints are more visible when you’ve good and competent hands, like we had, among the aspirants in Ondo State. Now, after the emergence of our candidate and complaints trickled in here and there, the opposition took advantage to create a wide divide among the stakeholders and supporters, with the hope of seizing the opportunity to build its fortunes. So, everything was magnified and blown out of proportion and they (opposition) cried more than the bereaved.

Suffice it to say that the South-West geo-political zone is known for its progressive politics. In that zone, we’ve a great deal of progressives, committed democrats and stakeholders with the interest of the party and country at heart. They’ve worked tirelessly after the party primary to ensure that bridges were built across the party and to re-assure them of APC’s commitment to improve the lives of Nigerians. I’m happy to say that the progressive minded people of Ondo State voted for APC as a mark of confidence in the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

The likes of Ahmed Bola Tinubu and some APC governors did not attend the grand campaign for the party’s candidate and now governor-elect, Rotimi Akeredolu. Was that not a pointer that the rift is still deep rooted in the party?

You see, this’s part of the divisive campaign mounted by the opposition against the APC. You’ll very well recall that President Buhari personally attended the grand campaign held just before the election. His presence had grossly enriched our chances. The calibre of party leaders and supporters that attended the rally and eventually took the president’s message to every nook and cranny of Ondo State was unprecedented.

The message was received and acted upon, and this contributed to the massive turnout of voters to the polling units who gave the APC victory. We’ve to give kudos to the campaign committee members who worked assiduously to see the party emerge winner of the election. The personal integrity and confidence of the people in the governor-elect, Rotimi Akeredolu, softened the grounds for the party to walk to success.

What I’m asking is whether Tinubu is part of the success story or not…Look, people in this country can interpret anything the way they feel like. Though Sen. Tinubu was not at the grand rally, there was nobody that claimed that he was sent to say he (Tinubu) did not attend the rally because of the party’s choice of candidate. And as you can see, he was among the first people to congratulate the governor-elect and the party. This means that our house is not divided as some mischievous people want to make Nigerians to believe.

What of the claim that the APC masterminded the crisis in the PDP, whereby various courts gave different pronouncements at different times in respect of candidates which counted against the party?

I’m happy you said the courts pronounced different candidates at different times. So, where and how did APC come in? I’m sure you know PDP has two factions and therefore presented two candidates. The two factions fought each other, including court processes to have their ways.

Therefore, the problem of PDP lies squarely on the shoulders of the party. Let me also say that our success in the Kogi and Ondo elections, where APC dislodged sitting PDP governors and the party’s re-election in Edo State are excellent testimonies of the people’s confidence in the APC-led administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. In fact, the Ondo election has shaped and strengthened our confidence towards winning the 2018 Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, and indeed the 2019 general elections.

There’re speculations too that APC connived with INEC and went ahead with the election when PDP made a request for extension of time to enable its candidate campaign. What is your reaction to this?

That’s ridiculous and flagrant mischief. You know, it has become a political norm in this country that when political parties or candidates face imminent defeat, or are defeated, they look for scapegoats. So far, nobody has advanced even a semblance of evidence for such a wild and callous allegation.

We should remind ourselves that this is a different regime with a different game that has high respect for the rule of law and independence of institutions.